Srinagar: In occupied Kashmir, the Indian Election Commission has cancelled the sham Indian parliamentary by-elections for Islamabad constituency, saying that the ground situation is not conducive to hold free and fair elections.
The by-polls, earlier slated to be held on April 12, were postponed for May 25.
The 10-page order said that the fresh date for the polls would be announced later.
Meanwhile, the All Parties Hurriyet Conference Secretary General, Shabbir Ahmed Shah in a statement issued in Srinagar reacting to India’s decision of cancelling the so-called by-poll in the territory said, the move makes it clear that Kashmiris have rejected the Indian rule.
He said that the people of occupied Kashmir had sent a clear message to India that the struggle against the forcible occupation would continue. “The selection or election is not any solution to the Kashmir dispute and peace in South Asia is impossible without its resolution. New Delhi should act with wisdom and accept the reality,†he said.
Terming the efforts being made to strengthen India’s occupation over Jammu and Kashmir as New Delhi’s stubbornness, Shabbir Shah said that such patchwork would not help in reducing tension in the region. He said that solution lied in resolving the lingering dispute through tripartite talks in line with the relevant UN resolutions.